Thursday, December 2, 2010

Women tells rape lie because she was late for work, blames diet for nearly destroying man's life

Another outrageous, terrifying, and infuriating false rape case: a young woman falsely claimed three men, with whom she had consensual sex, raped her so that she could have a reason for being late for work. Her defense counsel blamed her diet for her cruel act. The judge conceded that the effect on the three hapless males -- who were saved only because one of them had the good sense to record her consent on his cell phone -- could have been appalling. Yet, the liar was sentenced to only twelve months in prison.

In a nutshell, as more fully set forth here and here (both news reports are reproduced at the conclusion of this report): On June 4, 2010, Sabrina Johnson, an expectant mother, was out drinking before she met several men in the street. They invited her in for a drink and they began playing drinking games, then sex games. She ended up performing oral sex on three of the men.

According to the judge who sentenced Johnson for her rape lie: "One of the males – a prudent gentleman – recorded your consent on his mobile phone, including your image." And note the Judge's chilling words: "But for his doing so he would have been very likely in deep trouble."

Johnson awakened the next morning at 5 a.m. with a hangover. She was due to start work at 6am, but didn't show up until 12.45 p.m. She had already received a warning from her boss over being late for work, so she phoned him and told him she had been attacked. He asked if she had reported the attack to police, and for the crime report number she had been given. Johnson then decided to lie to police.

Johnson told police that two men had dragged her into a nature reserve and raped her. She was given a medical exam and a video interview. She even took police officers to the park to show them where the "attack" had occurred. She appeared distressed as she told them how the rapists forced her to perform oral sex. She showed them a path where she claimed a group of women passed by scaring her attackers off.

Twenty-one officers spent 311 hours investigating at a cost of £6,753 to the taxpayer. Work on other investigations was put on hold, officers were diverted to work on this case. Signs were posted appealing for the public's help, and undercover police were sent to patrol the park to allay community fears.

Three men traced by police gave statements and DNA samples to officers. Two of them resembled e-fit descriptions Johnson had given police of her supposed attackers. Police said that one of the men in the e-fit would have been arrested if he hadn't come forward with the recording of her consent.

Listen to the Judge's take on it: "The men had to make statements and supply their DNA to police officers, and it must have been a frightening experience, particularly for the man you identified. All he could say was that you had consented, but defendants often say so in rape cases, and juries are often invited not to believe them. The effects on the victim wrongly accused can be appalling, and might well have been in this case."

Defense counsel claimed that Johnson's behaviour had been affected by her diet, which restricts her to 410 calories a day and prohibits solid food.

Johnson admitted that she was angry with herself – admitting that when she drinks she gets flirtatious. She proceeded to apologize to -- can you guess who she left out? -- Essex Police and all the real victims of rape. No mention of the men she nearly destroyed.

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Let us put this case in perspective, because it points up some crucial lessons for our false rape culture.

Now we can add this one to the list of lame excuses for rape lies: diet. Imagine if that, or the aforementioned, lame excuses had been trotted out by counsel for a convicted young rapist. Even if an attorney could even bring himself to posit such an excuse, would the mainstream news media deign to dignify it by reporting it in a news story? The question scarcely survives its statement.

The fact is, the crime of false rape reporting is often among the cruelest, and most vicious, on the books. This blog is a cavalcade of real world examples of cold-hearted vindictiveness; day after day after day we chronicle instances where the offender's desire to punish and inflict extreme pain on her victim is the overriding motivation for the offense. Other times, as in this case, the offender's callousness to an innocent male life is so extreme and heartless that it is unspeakably appalling.

In this case, Sabrina Johnson was willing to sacrifice three innocent lives to save her job. Add this to the parade of recent false rape cases where similar cruelty was on display.

Remember the case where a young woman had her boyfriend arrested for rape because he took too long to buy cigarettes? Remember the women who didn't want to pay cab fares, so they accused innocent cab drivers -- working class nobodys -- of rape, just to hurt them? Here and here and here. How about the girl who wanted to get back at her teen ex-boyfriend: her rape lie not only got him arrested and convicted, but two of his friends as well. Or the woman who wanted to get back at her ex-boyfriend for breaking it off, so she falsely accused him of rape, and candidly admitted: "I just wanted him to be hurt because of what he’d done." Or the women who called the police and falsely claimed her ex was having sex with a minor. Or the young woman who told a rape lie about her young ex-boyfriend "because she wanted him to feel extreme pain"?

Rape lies generally are not cries for help, nor are they the innocent "white" lies they are made out to be. They often are coldly and calculatedly designed to achieve a very specific, cruel effect. Too often they succeed. David Copperfield's attorneys claimed that the famous magician's false accuser "bragged to one of her closest friends that she could make up allegations against a guy to 'take a guy down' if she wanted to. She said this before she even met Mr. Copperfield." See here. Another woman launched a vicious, methodical campaign centered around a false rape claim to get back at her boyfriend, and told a friend that he "wouldn’t know what had hit him." See here. And there was the New Zealand woman who was arrested for drunk driving and told her friend she was going to go to the media with the names of the arresting officers and be "bigger than Louise Nicholas," a woman who famously alleged several police officers had raped her. See here.

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Here are the two news reports about Sabrina Johnson:

Mum-to-be Sabrina Johnson jailed for a year for crying rape

MUM-TO-BE whose lies wasted hundreds of hours of police time has been jailed for crying rape.

Sabrina Johnson, 25 – who grew up in Maldon – fabricated a detailed story about being raped to protect her job after taking part in drunken sex games with three strangers and turning up to work with a hangover.

But she was forced to admit her lies after one of the men she had sex with revealed she had instigated and consented to the orgy – and had recorded her saying so on his phone.

Judge Anthony Goldstaub QC jailed her for 12 months at Chelmsford Crown Court on Friday after she had previously pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice.

"This was an allegation of a terrifying nature," he said.

"There was heightened public fear of rapists – an atmosphere of fear that was created wholly unnecessarily."

Judge Goldstaub told Johnson: "You have discredited justice, the truth has been violated and the moral fabric of the community has also been damaged.

"Bogus allegations worsen the plight of genuine rape victims and deter them from coming forward.

"Every false accusation of rape has an insidious effect on the public, and allows doubt to creep into juries where no doubt should exist."

Prosecuting Samantha Lawther told the court that on June 4 Johnson had downed five gin and tonics, a glass of wine and sambuca shots on a night out in Chelmsford before she met several men in the street.

They invited her in for a drink and played drinking games before she performed oral sex on three of the men.

"You had sexual relations with them and played some kind of sex game," said Judge Goldstaub.

"One of the males – a prudent gentleman – recorded your consent on his mobile phone, including your image.

"But for his doing so he would have been very likely in deep trouble."

She woke with a hangover at 5am the next morning.

She was due to start work at 6am, but didn't turn up until 12.45pm, which is when her lies began.

She told police that two men had dragged her into the Marconi nature reserve in Central Park, Chelmsford, and raped her, and was given a medical exam and a video interview.

Johnson took police officers to the park to show them where the "attack" took place, and even appeared distressed as she told them how the rapists forced her to perform oral sex.

She also showed them a path where she claimed a group of women passed by scaring her attackers off.

Twenty-one officers spent 311 hours investigating at a cost of £6,753 to the taxpayer.

Yellow witness boards were put up appealing for the public's help and undercover police were sent to patrol the park to allay community fears.

Forensic samples were taken at the scene, CCTV footage was obtained, and an e-fit of one of the "rapists" was even prepared, which resembled one of the men.

Police said that the man in the e-fit would have been arrested if he hadn't come forward with the recording of her consent.

"The men had to make statements and supply their DNA to police officers, and it must have been a frightening experience, particularly for the man you identified," said Judge Goldstaub.

"All he could say was that you had consented, but defendants often say so in rape cases, and juries are often invited not to believe them.

"The effects on the victim wrongly accused can be appalling, and might well have been in this case."

Mitigating Peter Barlex said she remembered giving oral sex the next morning, but couldn't remember how it came about, and only made the complaint after being encouraged to by her ex-partner and colleagues.

He also claimed that Johnson's behaviour had been affected by a diet, which restricts her to 410 calories a day and prohibits solid food.

In a statement, Johnson admitted that she was angry with herself – admitting that when she drinks she gets flirtatious – and apologised to Essex Police and all the real victims of rape.

A SECOND Chelmsford woman has been jailed for making a false rape claim.

Sabrina Johnson was late for work after a late night drinking binge and told her bosses she had been attacked.

Police launched a rape investigation after Johnson claimed she had been raped by two men in a Chelmsford park.

Police had called in extra CID officers from Braintree, Dunmow and Maldon to investigate the claim.

Work on other investigations was put on hold, officers were diverted to work on the matter and appeals for witnesses were issued by police.

Part of Central Park, in Chelmsford, was cordoned off, while local press and television as well as forensic experts were called in.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard on Friday how police spent 311 hours investigating the bogus claim at the cost of £6,753.

Three men traced by police gave statements and DNA samples to officers. Two of them resembled e-fit descriptions Johnson had given police of her supposed attackers.

Johnson, 24, was told by Judge Anthony Goldstaub: “The consequences could have been appalling.”

Johnson, from Rooks Crescent, Chelmsford, was jailed for 12 months after she admitted a charge of perverting justice.

Her solicitor told the court she was ashamed of what she had done and was very sorry.

The court heard Johnson, who is expecting a baby in May, had been out drinking with a friend on June 5 this year.

Later, she visited colleagues at the Co-op store in Moulsham Street, where she worked, before heading home.

As she was walking along Parkinson Avenue, she saw a group of men and was invited to a nearby flat.

Samantha Lowther, prosecuting, said Johnson agreed to take part in a sex game with three of the men.

One of the men, described by the judge as “very prudent”, recorded Johnson on his mobile phone giving her consent to the game.

Johnson woke the following morning and realised she was late for work. She had already received a warning over this from her boss, Miss Lowther said.

She phoned her boss to tell him she had been attacked. He asked if she had told police and for the crime report number she had been given.

Johnson then decided to lie to police. The court heard how police doubts about the claim began when the three men were traced and the voice recording of Johnson was discovered. Later on, she admitted her claim was a lie.

After she confessed, Johnson told police: “Things just started getting bigger and bigger and I could not stop it.